


The Gift of a Lifetime

by eternalsunshine13



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Birthday Presents, Canon Compliant, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, POV Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12834816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalsunshine13/pseuds/eternalsunshine13
Summary: It was Yuuri who saw through all of Victor’s fake smiles and invented personas, who saw the man underneath all the gold metals and world titles, the playboy image and sponsorship deals. It was remarkable, in a way, for someone who had idolized Victor for so long to see the real him. But maybe it had always been Yuuri who could see him, who never wanted anything from him other than to skate on the same ice as him—with him. And then at the Rostelecom Cup, Yuuri had selflessly sent Victor away, put Victor’s needs above his own. Yuuri deserved to have the entire world, and Victor wanted to be the one to give it to him.--In which Victor struggles to find the right present for Yuuri but it all works out.





	The Gift of a Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skowronek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skowronek/gifts).



> Happy (belated) Name Day, Kaja!!

Victor arrived at the Fukuoka Airport almost three hours early the night of Sunday the twenty-seventh. Yuuri hadn’t even boarded his connecting flight in Narita by the time Victor sat down in the arrivals waiting area with Makkachin by his side, but the thought of delaying their reunion by even one second had been intolerable. 

Now that he was here, however, Victor found himself with too much time on his hands and nothing to distract from his thoughts. 

Yuuri’s birthday was in two days and Victor still didn’t know what to get him. He’d spent the last month obsessing over it and ended up running out of time. He thought he might find the right present when they were in Moscow together for the Rostelecom Cup, but then they got the call from Mari and Victor returned to Japan two days early, leaving Yuuri to face the Free Skate on his own. 

Victor instinctively put an arm around Makkachin now, holding her closer at the terrifying memory. Thank God she’d made it out of surgery alright; he didn’t know what he’d do without her. 

“What do you think I should get him?” he asked her but she only offered him her usual doggy grin. “I guess I’ll have to figure this out on my own.” 

Part of the struggle was that Victor wanted to give him something special, something that showed just how much Yuuri meant to him. Something that measured up to everything Yuuri had given _him_ in the last eight months. 

It was Yuuri who saw through all of Victor’s fake smiles and invented personas, who saw the man underneath all the gold metals and world titles, the playboy image and sponsorship deals. It was remarkable, in a way, for someone who had idolized Victor for so long to see the real him. But maybe it had always been Yuuri who could see him, who never wanted anything from him other than to skate on the same ice as him— _with_ him. And then at the Rostelecom Cup, Yuuri had selflessly sent Victor away, put Victor’s needs above his own. Yuuri deserved to have the entire world, and Victor wanted to be the one to give it to him. 

In the past, Victor had bought lovers expensive gifts, taken them out to fancy dinners, but he knew none of that would impress Yuuri. He had thought about taking Yuuri on a trip but with the Grand Prix Final less than two weeks away, they didn’t have the time. 

*

Makkachin saw him first, bounding up to paw at the glass wall separating them. Their eyes found each other and then they were running alongside the same wall, desperate to reach the door. Yuuri flew into his arms, landing with a soft thud against his chest. For a moment the universe seemed to still and nothing existed outside of their embrace. Victor never wanted to let go. They hadn’t spent a single day apart since he swept into Yuuri’s life late March and this absence, however short, had been excruciating. 

“Yuuri…” Victor began, squeezing him tight. “I’ve been thinking about what I can do as your coach from now on.”

“Me too,” Yuuri said and then pushed them apart so he could look into Victor’s eyes, pin him there. “Please be my coach until I retire!” 

For one stunned second, neither of them spoke, but then a smile broke across Victor’s face as he brought Yuuri’s hand up to kiss. “That almost sounds like a marriage proposal.” 

Yuuri returned his smile and embraced him again. 

“In that case,” Victor continued, his head resting against Yuuri’s, “I hope you never retire.” 

He felt Yuuri shift, a short nod against his shoulder and they held each other closer still. “Let’s win gold _together_ at the Grand Prix Final.” They stayed like that for a long time, Makkachin joining them, and Victor had never felt such love in his life. 

*

Victor couldn’t sleep that night, watching Yuuri breathe peacefully, pressed against Victor’s entire body, head resting on his shoulder. Yuuri’s hair was getting long, Victor thought as he brushed his fingers through it, tucking errant strands behind a ear. 

“Victor?” Yuuri said, voice drowsy. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, _solnyshko_ , shhh,” Victor whispered, kissing the top of his head softly. “Go back to sleep.”

“Okay, you too,” Yuuri mumbled, shifting to get comfortable, his hand coming to rest on Victor’s chest right over his heart. 

Victor kissed him again but kept his eyes open. He was exhausted from the stress of the last couple of days and his separation from Yuuri but he wasn’t ready to succumb to sleep yet, didn’t want to miss a single minute with Yuuri. 

_Time,_ Victor thought—that was what he could give Yuuri. 

The idea came to him as he drifted off. They hadn’t had enough time to work on a new exhibition program before the Cup of China so Yuuri reused his exhibition from the year before, and at the Rostelecom Cup, Yuuri had decided against performing at the gala altogether. Victor had already been running through ideas and making notes for a new exhibition for Yuuri but thus far, he’d felt unsatisfied with everything he came up with. 

Victor had wanted to create something that showcased the beauty in Yuuri’s skating and played with the idea of designing a program built around dance—a tribute to Minako and his ballet training perhaps. But that had been all wrong. The program Victor would create for Yuuri needed to be centered on _their_ relationship, as it was now. 

If _Eros_ was about the beginning of their love story and _Yuri on Ice_ was about Yuuri’s skating career, pivoting around the moment Victor burst into his life earlier that year, then the exhibition had to be the culmination of both _Eros_ and _Yuri on Ice_. It had to be about where this journey had taken them. 

*

They went to the rink together the next morning, but Yuuri caught him spacing out during practice.

“Everything okay?” Yuuri asked. “You’re unusually quiet.” 

“Sorry, _solnyshko_. Just tired, I guess,” Victor lied. He was busy choreographing in his head, running through a new step sequence. 

Later that night, Victor came back to the rink after asking Minako to keep Yuuri busy at her studio. Alone now, he took a deep breath and let the familiar notes fill Ice Castle, lifting his chin in his opening position. 

The next day, he convinced Yuuri to take a day off practice. “You need a rest day, and besides, it’s your birthday.” 

“Alright,” Yuuri said reluctantly. 

Victor spent the day anxiously waiting for the moment after Yuuri’s _katsudon_ dinner with family and friends, when they were finally alone together.

“You’ve been acting weird ever since I came back on Sunday,” Yuuri said as Victor pulled him along to Ice Castle that evening. 

“What?” he said innocently. “Weird how?” 

“I don’t know,” Yuuri said. “Like you’re worried about something. Is it the GPF?” 

Victor’s laugh was gentle. “No, _solnyshko_ , I’m not worried about the GPF.”

“You aren’t?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s the last thing I’m worried about. I believe in you and I know what you’re capable of—that gold will be yours.”

Yuuri frowned but didn’t respond. 

“To be honest, I’ve been worried about today,” Victor said. 

“Today? My birthday?” Yuuri asked as they unlocked the doors to the ice rink and headed toward the locker rooms. 

Victor nodded. “I wanted to give you something special, something that would equal all that you’ve given me this year.” 

Yuuri’s lips parted in surprise, dropping his skate bag with a heavy thud.

* 

After Victor performed the exhibition he choreographed, he skated back to Yuuri and kissed him. “Happy Birthday. What do you think?” 

Yuuri burst into laughter, startling him. 

“Yuuri?” Victor asked, apprehension growing. Had Yuuri not liked it? Had he been wrong and Yuuri wanted something else? He was about to apologize when Yuuri pulled him in and held him tight, still laughing softly.

“I loved it,” Yuuri said. “But Victor, I already have an exhibition.” 

“ _What?_ ” Victor said, backing away. 

“I also know about the duet version of _Stammi Vicino._ Actually, I’ve known for a while now,” Yuuri said, his eye half-lidded, soft smile on his lips. “Is this what you were so worried about? My birthday present?” 

Victor nodded, swallowing thickly. “You’ve given me so much, Yuuri. I just wanted to give you something in return.”

“You already have,” Yuuri said, rising to his toepicks to kiss him deeply. 

“I have?” Victor asked breathlessly. 

“You’ve given me the best present—yourself.” They rested their foreheads against each other, the warmth of their breath mixing and tickling their skin. 

Eventually, they made their way to the center of the ice, together this time, and waited for the familiar notes to fill the rink. As _Duetto Stammi Vicino_ played, they moved as one, each curve of the neck and lift of the arm in perfect unison. Each stroke of the blade against the ice an _I love you_ in the air. 

As they danced around each other to a song about two lonely people finding one another, Victor knew Yuuri had been right—they had given each other the gift of a lifetime, and Victor couldn’t wait to spend his with Yuuri, his life and love. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come hang out with me on [tumblr](https://eternalsunshine13.tumblr.com) and go wish [Kaja](https://kaja-skowronek.tumblr.com) a happy name day! <3


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